PAK-MALIK 2LST

However, responding to a query, Malik said that he will However, responding to a query, Malik said that he will follow the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security if it directs him to put Ijaz's name on the Exit Control List as had happened in the past. "I cannot disobey the directives of the parliamentary committee," he said. The Interior Ministry's Exit Control List contains the names of persons barred from travelling out of Pakistan. Malik said Pakistan People's Party leader Raja Riaz wanted to question Ijaz about his alleged involvement in the ouster of the government of slain premier Benazir Bhutto and his articles criticising the Pakistan Army and ISI. Meanwhile, Ijaz's lawyer Sheikh contended the judicial commission had directed authorities to provide an army battalion to guard Ijaz but the government had nominated a Deputy Inspector General of police as the focal person for his security. He said he had raised the issue with the Attorney General and the army chief. Zahid Bokhari, the lawyer of former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani, who was forced to resign over the memo issue, dismissed Sheikh's claims and said Ijaz was acting like a spoilt child and setting new conditions every day for coming to Pakistan. He contended that Ijaz was delaying his trip to Pakistan as he had no evidence to back up his claims about the memo. "So much hype is being created over this person who caused infighting among state institutions. He is a foreigner who wrote against the army and ISI and yet he is being welcomed like a prince," Bokhari said. Meanwhile, the US Embassy reacted to Ijaz's claim that he had been assured of special security by the State Department by saying that the businessman would be treated like a common US national and will be entitled to the same facilities as other Americans in Pakistan. US has made no assurances to Ijaz about his security while in Pakistan, the US Embassy's spokesman said.